Linear food processor

ABSTRACT

A linear movement food processor may have a battery or power supply operation for portability and includes a set of reversible legs to enable it to be positioned over a plate or container. A series of blades are provided with an external mounting and storage area for quick selection. The drive mechanism utilizes a circular path pin engaging a drive slot on a cutter plate, with the drive mechanism being directly liftable so that the remaining structure of the food processor may be immersibly washed. One embodiment has a cutting stroke of 2.5 inches with a forward cutting stroke of about 0.25 seconds and a return stroke of about 0.25 seconds.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to improvements in appliances used toprepare food, and more particularly to a mandolin-type device in which ablade moves linearly across an exposed food volume to produce foodslices, and more particularly to a one touch, battery powered, stowabledevice which can work over any user's container in a manner providing arange of uses from straight food processor to a designer dish builder.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A wide variety of food processors are known, the most famous being highpowered slicers with motors having a power output in excess of one halfhorsepower and which has a specialized chopping space which follows thestroke of the blade. This type of device practically limits itself tobulk chopping operations. Unless the user has a large amount of food tobe processed, it is not worth it to bring out the bulk food processor,set it up, process the food and then continually empty the container.

Washing of the blade, and container is a problem. The blade may have anumber of small openings and require brush scrubbing in order to get itclean. Since the container which surrounds the blade participates in thecutting and grinding, the food particles may be ground into the surfaceand crevices. In many high powered food processors, the bins andinterlocks have intricate geometrically arranged structures and smallspaces which are almost impossible to reach without specialized tools.

The above problems are multiplied where it is sought to process a numberof foods during one food processing session. The need to set up,process, break down, wash and then set up, can be onerous. For athorough washing with regard to a full, powerful, food processor, theblade is not the only component to be washed. The container and itscrevices must be washed.

A further multiplied problem is storage. As before, only large amountsof food will practically cause the user to use the bulk, powerful foodprocessor. If large numbers of dishes are to be prepared, a number ofstorage bins must be provided to receive the processed food, to keepthem separate before being used to complete the dish. Further, theprocessing of food in large processors produce an uneven and oftencompressed process food product.

Further, food processors having rotary blades will not work as well withsome foods which need a straight blade pull over the volume of exposedfood. Fibers from rotary grating can sometimes lodge on the rotary bladestructures. Further, the use of a linear blade and linear motion cancreate a greater variety of “process food effects” to enable the user tocreate a greater variety of attractive prepared food presentations.

What is therefore needed is a food processor which includes advantagesover the common, high powered bulk processor. The needed processorshould be light, portable, eliminate a bin, container or tray whichneeds to be washed and re-washed, and enable blade substitution withouta complex and time consuming build up and break down of the device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A mandolin-type food processor has a number of features which givesignificant advantages over conventional food processors includingbattery or power supply operation to lighten and make the processor moreportable, a set of reversible legs which enable the food processor to bepositioned high over a plate or container so that sliced or grated foodcan drop onto a surface in a fluffy, non-compressed, and non molestedfashion. This enables the user to use the food processor as a dispenseror a dish builder. As an example, where the food processor is loadedwith Parmesan cheese, a user can simply position their plate underneaththe food processor and simply push a button to dispense the finelygrated, food product. In the alternative, the food processor can be usedto build attractive dishes by loading it with the food item to beprocessed, selecting a blade and then position it over a series ofplates to deposit the processed food. In commercial settings, a smallnumber of people can each use the food processor to form an assemblyline to create a completed gourmet dish in short order by carrying thefood processor from plate to plate to add to the dish. This isespecially useful when battery power is relied upon when used bycaterers who cannot count on the presence of external electrical powerin catering locations.

A series of blades are provided with an external mounting and storagearea for quick selection and loss prevention. Most food processors donot support their blades when not in use and they can become lost ordestroyed, resulting in additional time spent in searching or in extraexpense. A plunger guard has the shape of a deep box and has a blockingaction to provide a pushing action while blocking access to the feedchute. The feed pusher/plunger also has slots which can accommodate thepresence of a hopper divider which is utilized when smaller or narrowerfood objects will be processed in order to keep them aligned within aneffectively smaller formed hopper.

The mechanism of the food processor involves the use of a motor whichturns a mechanically advantaged main gear having a guide pin whichengages a cutter plate which reciprocates within a main housing channel.The main housing channel is an annular channel open at both ends, intowhich the cutter plate can translate in an almost frictionless mannerdue to rolling support wheels. An appropriate blade is loaded into thecutter plate by simply placing it into a mating slot in the cutterplate. The cutter plate is simply urged back into the channel housing.Simply pressing the button causes the drive gear's drive peg to reengagethe cutter plate and causes it to translated back and forth justunderneath a hopper. The upper side of the channel has a hopper openingwhile the bottom of the channel housing includes a discharge opening.Each time the cutter plate moves forward against the food in the hopper,an amount of processed food drops through the discharge opening an ontothe surface below. The surface moved into position below can be a plate,an expanse of paper, a cutting board or counter top.

The food processor may ideally have four battery cells, such as AA sizecells. Cutting occurs quickly to take advantage of the momentum ofmovement of the cutter plate as well as the turning momentum of the maingear wheel. One embodiment of the food processor which has been found towork well involves a cutting stroke of 2.5 inches with a forward cuttingstroke of about 0.25 seconds and a return stroke of about 0.25 seconds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention, its configuration, construction, and operation will bebest further described in the following detailed description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the food processorshown in leg storage position with the blade storage area un occupiedfor visual reference;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the food processor shown FIG. 1 with thelegs shown in operable position and with the full set of blades seensupported in the blade storage position;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the food processor of FIGS. 1 and 2 withthe legs removed and with the cutter plate displaced away from the mainhousing channel;

FIG. 4 is a view looking more downwardly into the main housing channeland into the drive opening and the through opening through the hopper;and

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the components within the motor housing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, a food processor 21 is seen in a upright, butstorage position. A main housing channel 23 has a pair of ends which areslip-fit engaged by a pair of identical legs 25 and 27. Each of the legs25 and 27 includes a housing channel engaging flange 29 and a curvedplanar support skirt 31. The housing channel engaging flange 29 slidesonto and envelops and closes the end of the main housing channel 23. Thecurved planar support skirt 31 provides a stable standing support forstably maintaining the housing channel 23 above the surface upon whichthe user wishes processed food to drop under the influence of gravity.The assembled and free-standing orientation is shown in FIG. 2. Tochange the position of the legs 25 and 27, they need only to be pulledaway from the open end of the housing channel 23, and rotated onehundred eighty degrees and then re-attached over the open end of thehousing channel 23. Either of the legs 25 and 27 can fit at either endof the housing channel 23 and in either the up position (as seen inFIG. 1) or the down position (as seen in FIG. 2).

Just to the left of the leg 27 a series of small upstanding verticalpegs 35 are seen extending upward from an upper surface 37 of thehousing channel 23 which are used to supportably store blade assemblies.To the left of the vertical pegs 35, a hopper 41 is seen, into which anannular conforming plunger 43 is seen. The annular conforming plungerhas a shape to nearly completely displace the internal volume of thehopper 41, as well as slots which enable it to accommodate hopperdividers so that it can also simultaneously displace the volume of asmaller volume between one or more hopper dividers (not seen in FIG. 1).

Below the hopper 41, and on the other side of the main housing channel23 is a food outlet 45 which extends only slightly below the mainhousing channel 23. This slight downward protrusion serves to give aready visual indication of the area of food discharge, as well as toprovide some additional protection should a blade be located in thecutter plate (not shown in FIG. 1) and where the food processor 21 isplaced in a storage position seen in FIG. 1 and where it is placed on atable or other surface in the configuration shown.

To the left of the hopper 41 is a motor housing 47 which supports anactivation button 49 at a top portion. The operation of the foodprocessor 21 is had with the simply pressing of the activation button49. The motor housing 47 sits within a flange 51 to provide exactmounting location while permitting lifting removal. The mechanical linkbetween the motor housing 47 and structures within the main housingchannel 23 is a self-locating drive pin (not shown in FIG. 1) and thusthe motor housing 47 can be easily removed so that the remaining portionof the food processor can be cleaned, even in a harsh cleaningenvironment.

Referring to FIG. 2, a perspective view similar to that seen in FIG. 1,but taken from a slightly upper perspective looking downward illustratesthe food processor 21 with the legs 25 and 27 having been removed andre-installed one hundred eighty degrees shifted to extend downwardly tosupport the main housing channel 23 in an elevated position.

As can be seen the pair of legs 25 and 27 lift the annular housing 23 toa position above the surface which supports the food processor 21 toform a clearance way 53 underneath the annular housing 23 in whichstructures such as plates, flat paper, dishes, bowls, chopping boardsand a variety of other structures (not shown) may be freely laterallymoved into and out of such clearance way 53 to receive processed food.In this configuration, the user of the food processor 21 can elect toleave it standing and to insert a series of plates underneath it, withinthe clearance way 53 one at a time for receiving processed food. Thisenables an assembly line process where different dishes are moved one ata time underneath one food processor 21.

In the alternative, the user can create a complete table setup andsimply place the food processor 21 directly over a plate to dispenseprocessed foods. This enables the food processor 21 to be used in eithera single dispensing process, or it enables a number of the foodprocessors 21 to be sequentially brought to plates on a table setup tobuild dishes in place, such as the building of a salad.

The vertical pegs 35 previously seen are seen as engaging a series ofblade insert assemblies 55 which use the pegs 35 for a friction fit atthe non-flanged edges. The blade insert assemblies are shown inschematic form in FIG. 2 and in detail would have some structure, eithera blade, grater or scraper. Further to the left, and within the hopper41, one hopper divider 57 is seen and which is actually extendingthrough the annular conforming plunger 43 (via slots to be shown).Hopper divider 57 has a circular aperture 59 to assist in grasping it.

Referring to FIG. 3, an exploded view of the food processor 21 with themotor housing 57 removed and with the identical legs 25 and 27 removed.It can be seen that the main housing channel 23 has an oval end profile.It is understood that the main housing channel 23 can assume differentforms, but that the laterally enveloping channel structure has a numberof advantages, including structural integrity and the ability to havestable end attachments, such as legs 25 and 27. The main housing channel23 also forms a natural and stable track for translation of a foodprocessing member.

As can be seen in FIG. 3, the annular conforming plunger 43 has anexternal surface extent which is generally consistent with the volume ofthe hopper 41. Annular conforming plunger 43 is seen as having a pair ofslots 63 which extend from the lower corner of the annular conformingplunger 43 and to an upward extent sufficient to accommodate a supportconnection of the hopper dividers 57 with respect to the hopper 41.

As can be seen, a pair of ribs 65 extend upward on each side of thehopper 41. These ribs form internal channels by which the hopperdividers 57 can engage for lateral support. The slots 63 on the annularconforming plunger 43 allow it to fully sweep the volume within thehopper 41 whether the hopper dividers 57 are present or not. Again, thehopper dividers 57 are for use where the food material to be fed has asmaller effective area than the hopper 41 but where it is desired toprovide a smaller effective area in order to keep the food to beprocessed somewhat vertically oriented or laterally stabilized. Thehopper 41 can be used with one or two hopper dividers 57. Further, sincethe slots 63 work in such close conjunction with the points where thehopper dividers 58 are attached, the hopper dividers 58 can have a widevariety of shapes within the hopper 41, and thus a wide variety of crosssectional area profiles. In some cases the food processor 21 can besupplied with a variety of hopper dividers 58.

To the left o the hopper 41, the flange 51 can be seen as extendingcircumferentially around an opening 69, through which the bottom insideof the main housing channel 23 can be seen, and which a portion of theopen end of the main housing channel 23 can partially be seen.Regardless of the shape and extent of the flange 51, the opening 69provides an area of sufficient circular extent to enable rotationalforce to be transmitted.

To the left of the main housing channel 23 a cutter plate 71 is seen.Cutter plate 71 is in essence a trolley which is designed toreciprocally operate within the housing channel 23 in a manner asfrictionless as possible. As can be seen, the cutter plate 71 has a mainbody which has a shape to accommodate stably a series of blade insertassembly 55. The cutter plate 71 has a series of six side axles, each ofwhich support a rotational wheel 73. The curvature of the internal areaof the housing channel 23 can be shaped to minimize the friction of thecutter plate 71 as it moves axially through the housing channel 23. Thelateral width of the main housing channel 23 and its internal shape ismatched to the width of the combination of the cutter plate 71, sideaxles and wheels, to maintain a low friction reciprocating action whichis laterally stable without binding.

The end of the cutter plate 71 has a laterally extending drive slot 75which is sized to accept a drive pin (not shown in FIG. 3) and sized toallow such drive pin to reciprocate within the drive slot 75 in asfrictionless a manner as possible. As will be seen, a spring plunger(not seen in FIG. 3) can “find” and engage the drive slot 75 to engagethe drive slot 75. As will be shown, the rotation of the spring plungerwithin the opening 69 will automatically engage the drive slot 75 andstart the reciprocating action of the cutter plate 71 within the housingchannel 23. Also seen is a blade 77 supported by the blade insertassembly 55. Blade 77 is one of several components which may besupported by the blade insert assembly 55, including graters and otherblades having different heights and angles. Also partially seen on theother side of the annular conforming plunger 43 is a protruding rib 67which interacts with a safety interlock switch on the motor housing 47to inhibit actuation of the food processor 27 unless the annularconforming plunger 43 is at least partially in place. The rib 67 fitsinto a slot 68 on the hopper 41 between the ribs 65 adjacent the side ofthe hopper nearest the motor housing 47. This system will prevent a userfrom actuating the food processor 21 without the inside of the hopper 41being isolated by use of the annular conforming plunger 43. In addition,the protruding rib 67 has a cut out portion so that when the annularconforming plunger 43 is fully inserted into the hopper 41, the power iscut by the cut out portion allowing the safety interlock switch to cutpower to the motor. This will conserve the operation of the foodprocessor 21 to instances when the hopper 41 has food to be processed.

Referring to FIG. 4, a perspective view of the housing channel 23 andhopper 41 is seen from a more upward and downwardly looking view. Thecircular extent of the opening 69 is seen. A ledge 79 may be providedfor additional stability, as well as any other interfittingconfiguration. Note that a significant support surface is providedwithin the flange 51, especially adjacent the hopper 41.

Within the hopper 41, the hopper divider 57 can be seen as having acurved surface. The hopper divider 57 terminates at a pair of oppositelylocated tabs 81 which interfit with the slots formed on the other sideof the ribs 65. The uppermost extent of the tabs 81 are limited andextend no further upwardly than the uppermost extent of the slots 63 ofthe annular conforming plunger 43. As can be seen from the view in FIG.4, because the hopper divider 57 has its attachment depend from solimited an area, it can assume any shape. By assuming any shape, it canprovide a smaller effective area, either between the hopper dividers 57or between on hopper divider and the opposite wall of the hopper 41.Further, the space between the hopper dividers 57 and the wall of thehopper 41 can also be used. Other, specialized hopper dividers can beemployed, such as those having annular tubes or other specializedstructures to vertically support food stuffs. Examples might includeasparagus, carrots and the like.

As can be seen, the hopper 41 bottom is essentially completely open as athrough opening 83. A portion of the flange of the food outlet 45 isseen at the far side of the through opening 83. Further, the ribs 65lower extent and the pair of oppositely located tabs 79 prevent thehopper dividers 57 from passing into or through the lateral annularopening of the main housing channel 23. In this manner, the blade 77will not contact the hopper dividers 57.

Referring to FIG. 5, a view of the components within the motor housing47 is seen with the face of the motor housing 47 which faces the hopper41 most prominently seen. Button 49 is part of an actuation switch whichis connected through a safety interlock switch 87 which operates inconjunction with a slot 89. As soon as the rib 67 enters the slot 89,safety interlock switch 87 is closed to permit the switch associatedwith the button 49 to actuate the food processor 21.

A series of batteries 93 are connected through the switch 87 and theswitch associated with the button 49, to a motor 95. The motor 95transmits mechanical power through a series of gears, including gears 97and 99 to a drive pinion 101. The drive pinion 101 drives a main flatface gear 103 having teeth 105 about its outer periphery. The flat faceinsures that there are no obstructions or other structures which mightinadvertently catch on the cutter plate 71.

From the otherwise flat face of the main flat face gear 103 a drive pin107 extends downward from a spring housing 109. When the cutter plate 71is inserted into the main channel housing 23, the drive slot 75 will belocated at some position under the opening 69. When the motor housing 47is replaced into its position within the flange 51, one of two stateswill occur. If the drive pin 107 happens to be in position to extendinto the drive slot 75 no compression of the drive pin 107 into thespring housing 109 will occur.

In the more likely case where the drive pin 107 is not aligned with thedrive slot 75, the drive pin 107 will be urged back into the springhousing 109 by contact with the upper surface of the cutter plate 71adjacent the drive slot 75. As soon as the hopper 41 is loaded, theannular conforming plunger 43 is in place and the button 49 is pressed,the gear 104 starts to move and the drive pin 107 depressed within thespring housing 109 will begin to move about the upper surface of thecutter plate 71 adjacent the drive slot 75 until it aligns with thedrive slot 75. At the moment of alignment, the drive pin 107 will beurged from the spring housing 109 and into the drive slot 75. As soon asthe drive slot 75 is engaged, the cutter plate 71 will begin toreciprocate.

Because the reciprocation of the cutter plate 71 is in accord with thecircular motion of the gear 103, the movement of the cutter plate 71will be in accord with a sine-cosine relationship. The speed ofreciprocation of the cutter plate 71 will be highest at the midpoint ofits travel period. Although a cutting stroke of 2.5 inches with aforward cutting stroke of about 0.25 seconds and a return stroke ofabout 0.25 seconds has been mentioned to work well, any cutting strokeand forward/return stroke can be utilized with this food processor 21.

While the present invention has been described in terms of a foodprocessor, & more particularly to a mandolin-type linear strokeinterchangeable blade type food processor, a wide variety of alternatemechanisms can be used within the mechanisms disclosed can be applied toother devices.

Although the invention has been derived with reference to particularillustrative embodiments thereof, many changes and modifications of theinvention may become apparent to those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore,included within the patent warranted hereon are all such changes andmodifications as may reasonably and properly be included within thescope of this contribution to the art.

1. A food processor comprising: a main housing; a pair of legs forpositioning said main housing above any surface to form a clearance inwhich structures may be freely laterally moved for receiving processedfood; a hopper supported by said main housing for orientably loadingfood to be processed; a cutter plate supported by said housing andreciprocatable with respect to said hopper, and into which a bladeassembly may be mounted; and a drive assembly supported by said housingand mechanically linked to the cutter plate.
 2. The food processor asrecited in claim 1 wherein said cutter plate has a drive slot andwherein said drive assembly includes a circular movement drive pin whichengages the drive slot to move said drive assembly in a reciprocatingmotion.
 3. The food processor as recited in claim 1 wherein said hopperincludes structures for receiving a hopper divider and furthercomprising a hopper divider.
 4. The food processor as recited in claim 1and further comprising a plunger for interfitting within said hopper andwherein said plunger has an external volume substantially matching aninternal volume of said hopper.
 5. The food processor as recited inclaim 3 and further comprising a plunger for interfitting within saidhopper and wherein said plunger has an external volume substantiallymatching an internal volume of said hopper and wherein said plunger hasa slot for accommodating said hopper divider such that said plunger candisplace the internal volume of said hopper independent of the presenceof said hopper divider.
 6. The food processor as recited in claim 1wherein said main housing includes structures for supporting a pluralityof blade assemblies mountable with respect to said cutter plate.
 7. Thefood processor as recited in claim 4 and wherein said plunger includes aprotruding rib which extends outside of said hopper for activating asafety switch supported by said drive assembly to prevent actuation ofsaid food processor unless the plunger is inserted at least partiallywithin said hopper.
 8. The food processor as recited in claim 1 whereinsaid drive assembly is removable from said main housing by lifting itfrom said main housing, to enable the food processor other than saiddrive assembly to be immersibly cleaned.
 9. The food processor asrecited in claim 1 wherein said main housing is annular tube shaped andincludes a through opening aligned with said hopper and a drive openingaligned with said drive assembly.
 10. The food processor as recited inclaim 9 wherein each of said pair of legs further includes a housingchannel engaging flange for fitting over an open end of said annulartube shaped main housing and where each of said pair of legs can beselectably fitted in an upwardly extending position for storage or adownwardly extending position for deployment of the food processor. 11.The food processor as recited in claim 9 wherein said cutter platereciprocates within said annular tube shaped housing.
 12. The foodprocessor as recited in claim 11 wherein said cutter plate includeswheels supported by side axles and wherein the lateral dimension of saidcutter plate, side axles and wheels is matched to an internal shape andlateral width of the annular tube shaped main housing to provide for alow friction reciprocating travel and a laterally stable path of travel.13. The food processor as recited in claim 1 wherein said main housingincludes a food outlet extending away from said main housing to protectsaid cutter plate and any blade assembly supported by said cutter plate.14. The food processor as recited in claim 1 wherein said main housingincludes a drive assembly flange extending away from said main housingfor locating and permitting stable operation of the drive assembly withrespect to said main housing.
 15. The food processor as recited in claim1 wherein said drive assembly further comprises: a drive housing; amotor supported by said drive housing; and a main drive gear, driven bysaid motor and supporting a drive pin for engaging said cutter plate.